TRIGGER WARNING!
This website contains poetry and true stories about trauma, personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, self-harming, depression and other significant mental health issues, as well as personal stories of emotional neglect and physical and sexual abuse, which some people might find disturbing.
Happy New Year everyone!
Wishing you all a calm and creative 2026, and keep writing ... poetry !!!
Would you like to contribute to Poetry for Mental Health in 2026, and share your poetry and personal story about mental health with fellow poetry lovers around the world? We are looking for new FEATURED POETS, PERSONAL STORIES, INTERVIEWS, as well as single poems for our WEEKLY FEATURED POETRY posts. Full submission details HERE.
Poetry for Mental Health
Supporting people with mental health challenges by motivating and inspiring them to write poetry.
"Poetry for Mental Health has supported thousands of people around the world through words and poetry!"
ROBIN BARRATT - Founder POETRY FOR MENTAL HEALTH
I formed
Poetry for Mental Health at the outbreak of COVID, as a way of helping people cope mentally through lockdown and the pandemic by inspiring them to write poetry. Five years, seven books, hundreds of poets, and thousands of pieces of poetry later,
Poetry for Mental Health
is still inspiring people to write poetry for positive mental health! And with around 1600 visitors each and every month, it
is now probably the largest and most visited website of its kind on the net!"
~
"No matter what your age, background and experience, culture or identity; whether an established writer with many published titles to your credit, or an aspiring poet who has never written a word of poetry in your life, our philosophy here is to embrace, welcome and support everyone, everywhere suffering from mental health challenges, and help you cope through words and poetry ... Get writing!"
NEW - This Week's Featured Poetry (x4)
Our FIRST featured poetry for 2026 !
OF KINGS AND VAGABONDS
By Johnnie Dalton
In the silence of a dream I dwell.
Thoughts of vagabonds and Kings.
I could hear.
Each has there own fear.
The vagabond nothing to loose except his peace and solitude.
The King by contrast his kingdom to loose.
For that which we have vagabond or king.
Is ours to loose.
Who am I but a vagabond?
Or a man who would be king?
For in dreams we can be kings and vagabonds.
From slumber deep awake.
Those thoughts I heard.
In a moment a lost.
Am I a king or vagabond?
Till morpheus again in my slumber deep his wicked games will play.
Another night a better day?
TIDAL WAVE
By Cynthis Foss
No one really talks about the waves of emotions that arise while trying to heal from trauma when your brain is constantly trying to sabotage everything.
Everything starts to look bright: your future and self-confidence. You feel so proud of what you have overcome and how hard you've worked to get where you are.
Then another wave starts to come, one you can't see coming with such force. It knocks you down from the foundation you've been building.
All of a sudden, you feel as if the sand is no
longer under your feet. You find yourself swimming back in all of the emotional pain, anxiety, anger, and self-sabotage you're so familiar with.
Fighting to stay afloat, trying to be patient with yourself, waiting for low tide, when the waves of emotions and the chaos start to recede.
Giving yourself kindness, grace, and self-compassion until the tide lowers....
Until you feel the warm sand under your feet again.
ECHOES
By MOC
Fear,
Too scared to take a look,
Feelings bottled inside,
Might erupt at any moment.
Fear,
Too scared—memories locked up,
Past moments long suppressed,
Crashing in like waves.
Grief like floods,
Pain like storms,
Echoes of your betrayal.
Too scared to feel,
Too scared to forget, to move on,
Stuck—
Reliving past scenes.
ABOUT THE POEM: This poem reads a page from his life that sums his feelings and thoughts after meeting the one who broke his trust.
ABOUT MOC: Studying psychology. She is someone who's too scared to take a look at the world, so most times, she's holed up in her room. Poetry is her way of communicating, telling what's deep in her heart.
TRISHANKU SWARGAM
By Aishwariya Laxmi
I stand at the threshold of life
Looking in from the outside
A kind of Trishanku Swargam
Neither here, nor there
But somewhere
Waiting, patiently waiting
For the tide to turn
For the page to turn
For the season to change
From Winter to Spring
Coz it's in Spring that my heart flutters
And butterflies inhabit my stomach
Yes, the metamorphosis
Takes place in March
When my birthday is celebrated
Quietly at home
And I wait
For the inertia to disappear
And life to change
ABOUT AISHWARIYA: Aishwariya os an author, poet, essayist, and flash fiction writer based in Chennai, India. Her debut book ‘Birds of Paradise: Poems on Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’ was released on Amazon USA in November 2024. Her work features in about 50 anthologies worldwide.
Lots more Featured Poetry here:
"Why is poetry so very good for people with mental health challenges? Because it helps them see the world in their own way, and in a way that makes sense to them ..."
Robin Barratt
Our Books
"People can benefit from writing poetry because it can take the images and the talk in your head and transfer it to paper. It’s like getting the words out
of your head so that they don’t linger there."
Nadine Dunseith
Personal Journeys
In their own words, writers and poets write about their own personal journey with mental health.
Interviews
Nine amazing writers and poets about their journey with mental health.
Featured Poets
Featuring almost 80 poets around the world, with up to six pieces of their work, and a little about the author and the stories behind their work.
Featured Books
Promoting poetry books and publications.
Articles
Articles about poetry and positive mental health.
Publishing Services
We publish books for other people too!!!
Would you like to see your poetry collection published as a paperback and Kindle, and available for other people to read around the world? Prices start from just £150.00 for a chapbook / short collection. Click on the link for more info. Plus
Promoting Your Book - information and advice for promoting and marketing your book. We have published over 100 books for other people. Just a few examples below:
Other ...
Directory of Support Services
Charities, groups and organisations worldwide offering mental health help and support to people in crisis.
Mental Health First Aid
Identifying warning signs of common mental health crisis, and how to guide a person towards safety and appropriate help. More info ...
Newsletters ...
NEW - Newsletters ONLINE
What's new at Poetry for Mental Health. Our monthly newsletters are now available to read online.
Send us your name and email address and we'll keep you updated with our news and calls for submissions. We'll never send you more than one email a month, or pass your details onto anyone else ... ever!
“No matter how bad something may seem at that moment in time when you feel all is lost, it can get better if you can only give it more time."
Lynda Tavakoli
Please donate. ALL donations go towards promoting and publishing poetry for mental health. Click on the button below for donation options or contact us to sponsor this platform. Thank you!
NOTE ON CONTRIBUTIONS: We publish mental health poetry from around the world, and for a number contributors to this website, English is not their first language. Unlike some other platforms, we don't heavily edit a poet's own work (if we did, it would then not be their own work!), so please focus on a poet's messages and meanings, and not necessarily on any grammatical mistakes or translated imperfections that may arise within their contribution.
